Tactical Information Sharing System
Overview The Transportation Security Administration's Tactical Information Sharing System (TISS) (also referred to as the Transportation Information Sharing System) receives, assesses, and distributes intelligence information related to transportation security to Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement. Section 114 of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 (ATSA)Pub. L. No. 107-71, 115 Stat. 597 (Nov. 19, 2001). grants TSA the responsibility for security in all modes of transportation. Specifically, Section 114(f) grants the TSA Administrator authority to "receive, assess, and distribute intelligence information related to transportation security" as well as to "assess threats to transportation." TISS enables FAMs in the field to report for analysis the observation of suspicious behavior that may signal some form of pre-operational surveillance or activity, and provide an information source for examining long-term trends and patterns. Information collected The information contained in the TISS is a combination of observations made by individual FAMs, DHS employees, and law enforcement officials with responsibility for transportation security along with data reported by other entities within the transportation domain, such as air carriers or other private entities within the transportation sector, as well as directly from the individual in connection with an encounter with FAMs or law enforcement officials. FAMs and other TISS users record their observations of suspicious activity in Surveillance Detection Reports (SDRs) and then submit the report electronically via a customized, encrypted personal digital assistant (PDA) application or through the Internet, via the secure TISS website. Members of the transportation industry, including aircraft crews, may submit reports of suspicious activity via electronic mail. The reports submitted via electronic mail are reviewed and investigated by FAMs in the Tactical Information Branch (TIB) and manually entered into the TISS as an SDR. Federal Air Marshals and other federal, state, and local officials are trained to identify and report suspicious activity while performing their daily duties. They submit Surveillance Detection Reports (SDRs) electronically into the TISS SDR database to report suspicious activities that fall below the threshold of an actionable law enforcement incident. FAMs assigned to the Tactical Information Branch (TIB) may also create SDRs based on information received in the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) Activity Reports or the TSA’s daily Executive Summary. Other sources of information include the FAMS Activity Reports, the DHS Daily Operations Report, the FAMS Mission Operations Center (MOC) Daily Report, the TSA Performance and Results Information System (PARIS) Daily Report, the FBI Most Wanted List, the ICE Most Wanted List, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Blocked Persons List, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerts. Subject information collected may include: first, middle, and last names; aliases and nicknames; home and business addresses; employer information; Social Security numbers; other available identification numbers such as driver's license number or passport number; date of birth; languages spoken; nationality; age, sex and race; height and weight; eye color; hair color, style and length; and facial hair, scars, tattoos and piercings, clothing (including colors and patterns) and eyewear. Vehicle information, including make, model, model year, color, license plate, state of registry, VIN, as well as registration information may also be collected. References External link * Transportation Security Administration's Tactical Information Sharing System (June 1, 2008) (full-text). Category:Security Category:Data Category:Privacy